Hugh John Macdonald teacher receives provincial science education honour

A Hugh John Macdonald School teacher has received a prestigious honour from the Science Teachers’ Association of Manitoba (STAM).

STAM announced Gigi Fallorin as being a 2021 winner of its Outstanding Teacher Award at the organization’s recent annual general meeting.

STAM Board Member and teacher Tina Helmuth presented Ms. Fallorin with her award in a special assembly at Hugh John Macdonald on April 8. The teacher was one of three individuals recognized by STAM with awards this year.

Ms. Fallorin has taught in Canada since 2007, prior to which she was educated and taught in the Philippines. Science has always been a major focus during her career.

“I did university-level teaching in the Philippines, my first degree was in Chemical Engineering, so I taught in the Faculty of Engineering at Tarlac State University for a good number of years,” Ms. Fallorin said. 

Since coming to Canada, she has taught at a number of WSD schools, including Daniel McIntyre, Elmwood, Isaac Newton, Tec-Voc and the Winnipeg Adult Education Centre before coming to Hugh John Macdonald.

Ms. Fallorin has made a strong connection with her Inner City students, and is always a voice of encouragement in their lives.

“I always write on my white board: ‘Dream, Believe, Succeed,’” she said. “I always tell students ‘Let’s dream big.’” 

That philosophy was evident when her students participated in the Kids Boost Immunity program, which sees students answering curriculum-based questions to earn vaccines for children in other countries. Hugh John Macdonald students embraced the program whole-heartedly, finishing first in Manitoba for the 2021-2022 school year, and second place nationally. 

“If I can hook the students in, to me that means something. It goes beyond content delivery,” Ms. Fallorin said. “You have to meet the students where they are at. They’re very into social media platforms, so I’ve really thought about that, how I could engage students.” 

That has led to the Ms. Fallorin embracing Twitter and other social media platforms; the tech-savvy teacher also has her own YouTube channel where she shares direct-instruction lessons and vlogs with students and educators on a wide range of science-related topics.

The direct-instruction videos offer students an opportunity to catch up and review important lessons that they may have missed in class.

“It’s virtual, but you are still able to make a connection with students,” Ms. Fallorin said. “It was at the height of the pandemic that I really invested my time in creating these video clips.

“There can be some negatives with social media, but if it is used in the right way, it can be a very powerful tool.”

Ms. Fallorin is always ready to find new ways to engage her students with science. That includes plenty of hands-on activities and opportunities to infuse other subject areas, such as visual and performing arts. For a multiculturally rich school such as Hugh John Macdonald, that attitude has allowed students to engage with the science curriculum in many different ways.

“We all learn through different learning styles, and with this school that is so true,” Ms. Fallorin said. “There are always other ways of demonstrating your understanding.”

Ms. Fallorin also frequently engages with programs such as WSD’s own Inner City Science Centre, Let’s Talk Science and a host of other science-related programs and resources. She has helped to coordinate and run the Virtual Summer STEAM Program alongside Daniel McIntyre Vice-Principal Charles Bendu 

The WSD’s summer English-as-an-additional language program at Gordon Bell High School is another program that Ms. Fallorin has kept close to her heart; she has taught in the program every summer since 2007.

“The students maybe see the face of immigration in me, in the colour of my skin and my accent, and I think that I connect pretty well with those students,” she said. 

On the professional development front, Ms. Fallorin is equally active, sharing her knowledge and encouraging teacher involvement in new learning platforms such as Brightspace in Early Middle Years and Blackboard.

Prior to presenting Ms. Fallorin’s award, Ms. Helmuth said that STAM officials were impressed by the broad spectrum of programming Ms. Fallorin accesses for her students. 

“We were impressed with Gigi’s commitment to science and all of the programs she was keen to try out to benefit her students. She has a lot of willingness to be flexible and try different things to help engage students and make them successful.”